Blogger News Network
High-quality English language analysis and editorial writing on the news.
About BNN
BNN Radio
US Grant and the Railroad
Login & Write!
What Sarah Palin Means By 'Terrorist': How Language Influences Politics
by Allen Taylor in 2008 Election Coverage
Sarah Palin is taking her gloves off. And other things as well.
She as may as well just strip naked on Capitol Hill because she is all-out revealing her every flaw. Well, maybe not every one, but enough.
According to news accounts, she is telling voters that Barack Obama runs with terrorists. But what does she mean by that exactly?
Understand that Sarah Palin is using the word "terrorist" rather loosely. The popular understanding of terrorist is someone who attacks innocent and unsuspecting civilians in order to make a political point. In other words, when a person of Muslim and Arabic descent drives a car bomb into a Jewish synagogue or a U.S. military base, that constitutes terrorism. The Republican Right Wing operatives, however, want to extend that definition to anyone who commits a domestic crime of a violent nature. Therefore, William Ayers and Timothy McVeigh are terrorists.
The problem is one of definition. In Sarah Palin's case, she is trying to win an election, albeit one from the position of last place running. It's the equivalent of the defensive coach on an NFL team that holds last place in its conference saying to news reporters on the beat that the coach of the lead team sends illegal plays into the game in fourth quarters. True or not, the intent is to discredit.
But in this case, whether the allegation is true or not is of prime importance. If it is then the American people ought to think twice about electing Barack Obama as president. After all, why would we want a person who hangs with terrorists in a position that requires of him a strategy to defeat terrorists on the battlefield?
Who Is Bill Ayers?
Central to answering the question, does "Barack Obama run around with terrorists?" is "Who is Bill Ayers?" The answer is, he's not the type of guy most people who like their government would want in their living rooms.
William Ayers was a prominent radical activist during the Vietnam years. He is a founding member of Weatherman, an anti-war activist group. The organization made a name for itself in 1968 and 1969 when they turned to violence, blowing up government buildings, and engaging in riots.
Whether Weatherman was a terrorist organization or not is disputed. On its website, the FBI calls the organization a domestic terrorist group. Others dispute that Weatherman was ever a terrorist group because it targeted property rather than people. There remains to be a fine distinction between terrorism and underground resistance, which may also be called insurgency. Many people incorrectly refer to some of the bombing activity in Iraq as the activity of terrorists when it is in actuality the activity of insurgents.
It must also be noted that William Ayers has never been convicted of terrorism. Therefore, to refer to him as a terrorist may be a legal distinction that, were he not a public personality, could be subject to libel laws.
Will History Remain History?
Weatherman dissolved around 1976 and its members re-integrated themselves back into normal society. William Ayers is now a respected professor at the University of Chicago. Even if one accepts that Ayers was a terrorist in the years between 1968 and 1975, he clearly is not one now. But even then, can we draw a connection between him and Barack Obama?
The evidence is tenuous. Ayers and Obama have appeared in the same place at the same time on several occasions. But if a Pittsburgh Steeler fan attends every game the Steelers play then you could say that the fan and Ben Roethlisberger are "palling around" based on the logic of Palin and her neoconservative political allies. But the Ayers-Obama relationship does appear to be more than merely one of acquaintance.
According to Andrew McCarthy, in an editorial at CBS News, he states that Obama and Ayers were both speakers on two separate occasions at the same event. At least one of those events was organized by Michelle Obama, the Democratic candidate's wife. That proves they're bosom buddies. Right?
Wrong. Inviting someone to speak at an event doesn't exactly make you the best of friends. Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes appear on TV every night together. That doesn't make them pals. It makes them co-commentators.
William Ayers is a communist – a communist of political ideology not connected with the Communist Party – who resorted to violence to make his point 30 years ago when Barack Obama was too young to have been a participant. Should Obama pay for the violent past of man with whom he has loose connections when our current president, whose connections with the Saudi Royal Family are much tighter has virtually not been questioned for his alliances and particularly when it can be proven that actual terrorists hail from the Saudi region?
In many ways, the Cold War is still playing out in national politics. The Right Wing's ardent hatred of Communism causes them to lose any respect for logical thinking when it comes to connecting the dots between those whose ideologies they oppose and their opponents in the political ring. If you can't win the war of ideas then you try to paint the other guy as a violent radical scumbag that doesn't deserve a piece of cake.
When Sarah Palin says Barack Obama runs with terrorists, what she really means is he's been seen in public with a person who, at one time in the past, was a violent person. But she is a Christian, a member of an organization whose founder palled around and cohorted with zealots, who may have been the terrorists of their own day, and other undesirables. Said founder commanded his followers to do the same. Rather than applaud Obama for his courage in doing so, Sarah Palin criticizes him just as the Pharisees in the day of Christ criticized him for running with sinners.
Furthermore, America is a nation founded on terrorism. According to current definitions of terrorism, the Boston Tea Party would qualify. Some of the tactics of Revolutionary soldiers would have been considered terrorist in nature, though guerrilla warfare may be a more apt name.
What's the point? Terrorism is largely a matter of how you define it. If you are a member of a weak group and you feel like you are being oppressed by a stronger, more powerful group, as many radical activists in the 1960s did, then when you blow up buildings to make your point you might consider that an act of violent resistance. The more powerful group you oppose might call it terrorism. Whose definition should be accepted?
This analysis is not to excuse the violent actions of people who choose to go that route. Rather, the point is to offer an alternative view to the definition of terrorism. Not every act of violence is an act of terrorism. To use terrorism as a scare tactic to persuade less critical members of the voting public to vote for you because you feel like you are the underdog and need an "upper hand" is cheap and warrantless. It offers nothing positive or substantive to the debate. If you cannot tell me what positive assets you have that will give me reason to vote for you then perhaps you do not deserve my vote.
So What Do We Make Of The Terrorism Charge?
Should Barack Obama be president? Probably not. But it isn't because he runs with terrorists. That's just playing with words in a rather untidy fashion.
All we know of Bill Ayers is that he committed acts of violence, which some people have defined as "terrorism." All we know of Obama's relationship to Ayers is that they have appeared together at several events and that Ayers has contributed $200 to the Obama campaign. Big deal. Is everyone who contributed to the John McCain campaign a pal of his?
Saying that Barack Obama pals around with terrorists is a cheap Republican scare tactic designed to people sitting on the fence a nudge to lean toward McCain. It likely will not influence Republicans who have already made up their minds even if they know the allegation is absurd. If will not influence committed Democrats either. It wasn't meant to. It was aimed at blue collar workers who love their country, but who may not be fond of its government. They don't like bureaucrats, but like terrorists even less and if we can prove one of the candidates has a connection to a terrorist then the other candidate will likely win a vote. Don't trust the rhetoric; do your homework.
Allen Taylor writes the daily News and Media Blog. He invites you to follow him on Twitter.
Click Below To Rate This Post:
19 users commented in " What Sarah Palin Means By 'Terrorist': How Language Influences Politics "
Capital G said,
in October 5th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
The Weathermen were certainly a terrorist group – and not just by some Republican definition. They declared a state of wasr on the US.
Ayers was not 'just nearby' Obama. Obama worked for and with Bill Ayers for several years. Obama's political career was launched from the home of Bill Ayers.
Obama was still working for Bill Ayers when Ayers spoke 0n 9/11 2001 – and shortly afterwards when he took that photo standing on the American flag.
Bill Ayers is an unrepentant terrorist who continues to hold America in contempt today – and this was all just fine and dandy to Bill Ayers.
This willingness to 'look the other' way by Obama supporters is alarming.
I suppose in your deluded mind the Weathermen are somehow patriotic Americans who openly hate their country, killed innocents, and later in the '70s turned to robbing Brinks trucks.
chillingaz said,
J.Paul Kahler
Does this mean that McCain is responsible for the Kent State murders because he was in the military at that time? No, but he is responsible for advocating and supporting a war policy by Cheney and Rumsfeld that is a total failure. Does this mean that McCain is responsible for the Savings and Loan bailout because he and Charles Keating were best friends at that time? No, but he is responsible for the cause of the economic bailout because he advocated and voted for deregulation laws for the financial markets. Does this mean that McCain is anti-American because he hugged Bui Tin during the POW-MIA senate hearings, a North Vietnamese who tortured Americans during the Vietnam War? No, but he is responsible for picking unqualified Palin as his VP without properly vetting her, which proves that he is "Me First and Country Last." Does this mean that McCain and Bush are one in the same because they are republicans? No, but if your voting record shows that you voted with President Bush 90% of the time, then you are responsible for the failed policies of the Bush administration. And, finally, McCain and Palin aren't the solution, they are the problem because their action's speak louder than their words. It clearly shows that McCain and Palin only care about themselves and will say anything to get elected. Thank God, there are a lot of Americans who see right through their hypocrisy! And, thank God to all of you Americans who aren't drinking this tainted "Kool-Aid!" So, keep spreading the word and when you see these hypocrisies, oppose them and expose for what they are, the greatest hypocrites since Bush and Cheney!
wtf said,
"Obama's political career was launched from the home of Bill Ayers."
Wow, that $200 that Ayers raised for Obama is what started his political campaign? If Obama's campaign was started by a terrorist, why the hell are we just hearing about it now? You people are incredible. Lowest of the low.
joe crandall said,
William Ayers appointed then 28 year old Obama to be the Chairman of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, and far-left "education" group whose purpose was to brainwash children into believing the United States was evil. Think about this for a second – Obama is a THIRD YEAR associate at a law firm in Chicago, and William Ayers out of nowhere decides Obama should Chair Ayers' pet project, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge? C'mon! This shows an established relationship between the two, and Obama and Ayers had personal meetings up until about a YEAR AGO!!!!
A grassroots response to the deficiencies that are so glaringly obvious in our existing mainstream media structure is now underway.
http://breakthematrix.com/BreakTheMatrix/Why-not-include-them
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." –Thomas Jefferson
roxiee pruitt said,
Why does it surprise any one that Palin would say such things. I am afraid most of us think a person who uses her unwed daughter who is preganant, and her infant for political reasons would stoop to any thing to win her quest to be president . She, no longer, has a shed of decency. I hope americans can see these dirty tricks, but if they do not, they deserve what they get. Heaven help us.
Sanjoy Das said,
Palin's approach is – as AP described – racially tinged. Nobody reacts to McCain's ties to G. Gordon Liddy, connection to Keating Five, or Todd Palin's connection to the Alaskan Independence Party. The average voter nevertheless raises eyebrows when Obama is linked to Ayers, because he is black.
Just imagine if Obama had John McCain's record:
(i) a broken first marriage, ending up in an affair,
(ii) a wife who is addicted to drugs,
(iii) former "terrorist" friend G. Gordon Liddy,
(iv) linked to the Keating Five scandal,
(v) a vile temper, known to use foul language.
or if he had Sarah Palin's record:
(i) a pregnant teenage daughter,
(ii) a mediocre degree,
(iii) a secessionist sympathizing husband,
(iv) a nexus with a Kenyan witchdoctor,
(v) an abysmally low IQ and lack of basic understanding of economy & foreign affairs.
Rich said,
The McCain Campaign is simply desperate.
They are going down in flames and taking the Party along with them.
Palin's nonsence! People should slap on her face, I am a woman, but not seen such an idiotic woman in my life – I wonder whether all hocky moms are lack of intelligence!
Palin did not convince me that she has mastered the knowledge of any kind of university degree. It must be some rogue certificate because she could not tackle free lance journalists with her journalism degree- This prooves that either her degree is of very low quality (less credibility) or she did not have such. Her executive experience is also in "shambles" – Pack up -go to Wasila with the family – McCain must sell Alaska with Palin as a solution.
psburton said,
Allen let me first thank you for your service in Iraq. Its individuals like you who are responsible for defending my right to rant even if we disagree.
I have voted for John McCain since he began running back in the eighties, I was a registered republican till 2006.
One of the few to none in the blog-o-sphere who predicted Senator McCain would rise from the political dead to reclaim the nomination
when everyone else said he was road kill.
The GOP has changed Allen, it ain't the party of Regan or Goldwater anymore. Do I wish Obama had a few years more experience under his belt? Do I wish Biden or Hillary was top of the ticket? Of course we do.
But McCain has gone so far off the reservation it should scare traditional conservatives.
When a man or woman will DO or SAY anything just to get elected we call him a career politician
When a genuine, death before dishonor hero like John McCain does it, The political desperation faced by another former patriot and hero comes to mind, his name was Benedict
Callum said,
in October 6th, 2008 at 2:12 am
You can smell the desperation. The economy in a shambles, Banks failing left and right, the investigators closing in a Caribou Barbie and the GOP plummeting in the polls.
Like any frightened animal the Republicans instinct when cornered and facing political oblivion is to attack.
You can expect a whole month of desperate smear tactics from McPalin.
Unfortunately this crisis will focus the minds of voters in a way it didn't in the past, the lies just won't work this time. The Democrats are head for the White House and large majorities in both the Senate and House. Obama will have enough support to push through major political change.
Watch for a radical transformation. Hello Gun Control, Universal Health Care, a Liberal Supreme Court and maybe even an end to the Death Penalty. Finally America will join the civilized world and show it has the moral authority to lead the free world.
As for you Republicans, you are headed to the political wilderness for at least four and possibly eight years. Thats what happens when you try and run candidates like Sarah from your lunatic fringe. Someone once said "No one ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the American Public." I guess he never met Sarah Palin.
Nancy Reyes said,
The victims of the weathermen have names.
Police Sargent Brian V McDonnell died in one of their bombings.
And Myrna Opsahl died in a bank robbery.
If you count all the murders, it would include the (black) Oakland Superintendent of Education in the list.
If Ayers repented, fine.But he did not repent.
As for Jesus: Seems to me he was quite negative against rich people who hurt ordinary folks and could get away with it because their families were rich and they had powerful friends.
Allen Taylor said,
in October 6th, 2008 at 10:50 am
The GOP has changed Allen, it ain't the party of Regan or Goldwater anymore.
You can say that again. The GOP faithful do not realize the significance of the Bush Administration. Bush's legacy is a history-making moment with global impact, a bit like the "shot heard around the world," only this time the patriots, those who claim they are patriots, are on the wrong side of the ideological battlefield.
McCain's insistence that he is a maverick in the face of his obvious "come to Jesus" meeting with the financiers of the Republican Party is the biggest misstatement since the last Bush press conference.
Republicans supporting John McCain are worse than the Americans who supported King George during the Revolution. At least King George had an ounce of scruples if not common sense.
As for violent crimes, when it comes to sympathizing with doers of violence, I have much more respect for those who do violence from a position of weakness than those who do it from a position of strength and superiority. One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.
Mavsreader said,
While we've neatly tip-toed around it, Sarah is using language that is inappropriate. While it's been interesting watching "anything goes" without rebuttal, it needs to stop.
I think American women, especially white American women need to say, "Enough". Stop using your status as a white woman, to say anything. Say what you have to say and fit within cultural norms!
Where are all the elected GOP women? Cat got your tongues?
You must submit to the same scrutiny as the men. Enough with word choice and manner of delivery.
Here's the snuff test, if you're embarassed to say it in college classroom, then don't say it while on a national stage. All the "shucks" and shoulder shrugging does not give you a pass.
lee said,
It's the economy stupid.
Obama was years old when this happened. They live in the same neighborhood, worked on the same charity boards, knew each other, guilty by association is not a crime.
Americans, me at least am more concerned with 4 more years of the McSame. Terrified!
in October 6th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Yes Palin does not represent women, She represents her interests, and campaign stradegy to be VP.
It's best to ignore her idiotic rambling and go after the top of the ticket, senior citizen McCain
Norman said,
In 1970 he "went underground" with several associates after the Greenwich Village townhouse explosion, in which Weatherman member Ted Gold, Ayers' close friend Terry Robbins, and Ayers' girlfriend, Diana Oughton, were killed when a nail bomb (an anti-personnel device) they were assembling exploded. Kathy Boudin and Cathy Wilkerson survived the blast. Ayers was not facing criminal charges at the time, but the federal government later filed charges against him
the man made a nail bomb! you don't think hes a terrorist?
Mike said,
in October 11th, 2008 at 11:57 am
When we are talking about a man who committed a crime over 35 years ago, faced the legal system, did his time (so to say), our constitution and legal system states this man is now a reformed member of our society. He is now a respected professor in a respected school. Obama served on the same board as Ayres – ok, so what? George Bush Sr sold poison gas to Saddam Hussain, so George Bush is a mass murderer? Of course not! He lacks ethics and sense, but murderer – no. Palin's husband is a secessionist, so Palin want's the Union destroyed? perhaps, but she is not a member of the IAP, her husband was. Who is the traitor? Guilt by association means that if Pbama is a terrorist, Palin is a Secessionist – a traitor. And, McCain still selected her. Ergo:
Obama = Terrorist
McCain = Palin = Traitor. The math finally works.
Username (*required)
Email Address (*private)
Website (*optional)
BloggerNews On The Air
We are pleased to announce our latest endeavor, Blogger News is now sponsoring some radio shows on Blog Talk Radio. You can check our full schedule, and listen to previous broadcasts here, and we hope that you will join us on the air in this new venture.
Listen to internet radio with Simon Barrett on BlogTalkRadio
Most Recent Articles:
How to Prepare for a New Pet
4 Cool Ways to Get More People to Shop at the Mall
Review: Purgatory Bay by Bryan Gruley
Review: At Their Own Game: A SpoCompton Crime Novel by Frank Zafiro
Review: Robert B. Parker's Angel Eyes: A Spenser Novel by Ace Atkins
Blogger News Network is © 2008 Local Info Company